Dante doesn't fight demons to save the world, he fights them because they're there and the job pays. That shift from world-saving hero to mercenary shrugging through monster-of-the-week contracts is what makes this 12 episodes work: you're watching a man perfectly comfortable in chaos, cracking jokes while his guns do the talking. The last two episodes snap everything into place, but it's the ride getting there that sticks, a show that knows exactly what it is and never apologizes for keeping things simple.

Dante is half demon and half human, a curse that commits him to a lifetime of battling demons. Through his own business, Devil May Cry, he takes on assorted jobs, and he is happy to return demons to hell when there is money in it. At the request of his acquaintance J.D. Morrison, he agrees to guard Patty Lowell, a girl found at an orphanage who is the missing heir of a prominent family, and to deliver her to her relatives. Dante grumbles that the work is little more than babysitting. When demons start chasing Patty, though, he senses the case is not what it seems and uses his skills to keep her safe. Armed with his sword Rebellion and his guns Ebony and Ivory, he carries Capcom's game hero into a twelve-episode action fantasy series.